Drove into the back of someone

[233]

My fault entirely nudged the back bumper

No damage to mine small scratch on the mondeo bumper that I suspect was there previously


Questions

Do I legally have to inform my insurance company straight away

Is it legal for me to offer her a cash settlement rather than go through the insurance


Anything I should know about this kind of thing in regards to legalities etc

Anyone link me to a template to give mr no comeback if I pay her cash?


Thinking if she will accept I'll just offer her a few hundred quid to bugger off and forget about it taxi insurance would skyrocket with a fault claim against me

So ocuk your thoughts and flames

 

[stoofa]

Quite legal to keep things outside of the insurance.
If you do so then really there is no need to notify your insurance company - you're simply paying her for the damage, job done, no point getting them involved.

Comeback - none.
This is the only danger of dealing outside of insurance.
You give her money, she still goes and tells insurance and puts in a claim.
So I would print up something in Word along the lines of:

I <name of person you hit here> accept this payment of <enter amount here> as full and final payment with regards the motor accident we were involved in on <insert date>
Get her to sign that when you hand over the cash.

You'll have a very difficult job proving the damage was there already.
Really you will want to avoid insurance for sucha minor scrape, so as you said offer her enough for a new bumper or respray and in reality she'll probably accept.

 

[Felix Da Housecat]

Don't offer her cash, offer to have it fixed that way it doesn't sound like a bribe to keep shut about it.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Tell your insurance co to keep yourself covered from various angles.

Just say you had a minor bump and there was no obvious damage but the other party is getting it checked. Talk it down, was 2mph, only just touched her etc.

Then try to settle with them direct.

Its just safer to report in case you suddenly unexpectedly get a massive issue later with the driver and 4 other claimants whiplash injuries for the big damage casued to rear of car. Do a statement now, diagrams etc so if you need it at a later date its fresh in your mind.

Did you by any chance get any pics, always take pics, ideally getting occupants etc in the pic. Inflated claims are your issue if you haven't reported it. If you report now it helps your case later if suddenly they try to inflate claim later.

 

[233]

She says she will call tommorow once she's had the car checked and spoke to her husband I'd imagine he'll look and think £££££££££

 

[DAIR]

Will no doubt claim whiplash...

Id inform insurance (just in case)!

 

[nas]

you have no obligation to inform them, but you can if you please, its better as the party against you maybe be inclined to exaggerate...

As for offering, you can, but she has no obligation to accept it, but as mentioned above, expect them to milk it.

 

[Haze]

when i had a prang and went to settle it out side of the insurance company, they phoned me up and told me off for not contacting them

 

[kae2]

The problem you have, is that I would expect them to push for whiplash, and that's a minimum payout of £2700 before legal fee's etc.

 

[Felix Da Housecat]

+ if you tell them you had a shunt, whats the chances they wont keep a record and at renewal time charge you a little more just because they can.

 

[Kutter]

when i had a prang and went to settle it out side of the insurance company, they phoned me up and told me off for not contacting them

If your sorting it out without insurance its non of their business, unless the other party contacted their insurance.

If you smash a window on your house, and you replace it, you dont contact your house insurance, so whats the difference.

 

[-westy-]

If you settle outside of insurance make sure you both have a copy of the signed document, including the phrase,

"I, the undersigned, understand acceptance of the cash amount of xxx considers the matter closed and no further action needs to, or will be taken"

Both sign it, that way there's no comeback on her part.

 

[DAIR]

+ if you tell them you had a shunt, whats the chances they wont keep a record and at renewal time charge you a little more just because they can.

Theres nothing stopping them from increasing it anyway....

 

[MeAnBoY]

I did this once, turns out it was a dwarf. He got out the car and told me "I'm not happy" so I asked "well which one are you then?".


/taxi!

 

[Kingy]

I did this once, turns out it was a dwarf. He got out the car and told me "I'm not happy" so I asked "well which one are you then?".

 

[schumi84]

when i had a prang and went to settle it out side of the insurance company, they phoned me up and told me off for not contacting them

My GF had a prang earlier in the year, again entirely her fault, was low speed coming up to a mini roundabout (so under 10MPH as it is a blind corner).

As soon as the guy got out, he held his neck and claimed whiplash , my GF was in pieces from the shock of it all, and the upshot was they would settle outside of insurance.

GF gets home, speaks to the guy on the phone, was told he was gonna sort it himself due to the lack of damage etc (GF's Ka against a Suburu Estate). GF informs insurance company, as that is what it states in the T&Cs, they have been contacted by the 3rd party's insurance company that he isn't going to claim.

A week goes by and my GF gets a letter confirming a claim has been made by her so she rings up, and is told that it is just the standard letter sent to all claims (fault and non-fault).

Couple of months go by, her car is sorted, renewal for insurance comes through and the premium has gone up from £250 - £850 , this is questioned and apparently the guy did ******* claim and as a result my GF lost 2 years of her NCB .

End of the day, i would inform insurance company just in case, even if it is verbally agreed to go outside of it - the 3rd party you have hit may well decide to try and screw the system for whatever she can.

 

[taximike]

My GF had a prang earlier in the year, again entirely her fault, was low speed coming up to a mini roundabout (so under 10MPH as it is a blind corner).

As soon as the guy got out, he held his neck and claimed whiplash , my GF was in pieces from the shock of it all, and the upshot was they would settle outside of insurance.

GF gets home, speaks to the guy on the phone, was told he was gonna sort it himself due to the lack of damage etc (GF's Ka against a Suburu Estate). GF informs insurance company, as that is what it states in the T&Cs, they have been contacted by the 3rd party's insurance company that he isn't going to claim.

A week goes by and my GF gets a letter confirming a claim has been made by her so she rings up, and is told that it is just the standard letter sent to all claims (fault and non-fault).

Couple of months go by, her car is sorted, renewal for insurance comes through and the premium has gone up from £250 - £850 , this is questioned and apparently the guy did ******* claim and as a result my GF lost 2 years of her NCB .

End of the day, i would inform insurance company just in case, even if it is verbally agreed to go outside of it - the 3rd party you have hit may well decide to try and screw the system for whatever she can.

That's why you need to make a settlement soonish and get a legally viable document stating they accept any payment as a full and final settlement. They seriously NEED to sort this out in the UK insurance industry, and the docs need to wake up and smell the BS when people come into hospital claiming whiplash rather than signing it off as legit.

 

[233]

going to chase it up with the other party tommorow lunchtime and ask for a definate answer else its going through the insurance

will offer her £350 cash and take it from there. else it can go through the insurance

 

[233]

hmmm other party has just called to say she's going to get her car "checked over" tommorow dont know if that sounds a good or bad thing, i get the feeling she's going to speak toa knowledgabe person who will suggest screwing me for as many £££££ as possible

 

[Kutter]

Probably tell you the chasis is twisted and needs jigging and all that rubbish.